The Gallifreyan Gazette Pages

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Doctor Who - Listen Review (Spoilers)

Doctor Who:ListenBy Steven Moffat

“What’s that in the
mirror, and the corner of your eye? What’s the footstep following, but never
passing by?”

We all have had nightmares. Waking up in the middle of the night in a
fright and being scared for no apparent reason as our subconscious has a little
fun at our own expense. We have all been
there. But what is the cause? Is it an invisible
creature under the bed waiting to get us? Those of us with kids have to deal
with the inevitable nightmare in the middle of the night that wakes us in a
startled state. But what happens when a
Time Lord has a nightmare? What happens
when he thinks he is not alone? We found
out after watching “Listen” or did we.

I have to say after seeing
the trailer for “Listen” that I was really looking forward to watching this
story. I like the darker and scarier
stories like “Midnight”, “Blink” and “Hide”.
I enjoyed when the Classic Series would be scary and send you behind the
sofa. Doctor Who is good for bringing the
scares and should do so more often. So I
was delighted to see a story that was scary and intense in Series 8 of Doctor
Who. “Listen” did not disappoint. It was scary and intense and a tad bit controversial
if you believe what the fans on Twitter are saying.

Right from the beginning we
are thrown in to it with The Doctor apparently talking to someone in the TARDIS
but we cannot see the creature or person but we know it is there as there was a
response to The Doctor’s question of what does it do and written on the chalk
board was listen. But we were also given
some doubt about the creature as Clara said it looked like The Doctor’s handwriting.
I liked that as it kept me thinking if
this was real or part of The Doctor’s subconscious playing tricks on him.

I really liked the scene
with Clara and Rupert Pink. We see Clara
trying to comfort Rupert that there is nothing to be afraid of and that he was
just having a nightmare. She even went
as far as going under his bed to prove there was nothing there. What she did not count on was something being
on top of his bed. This scene was pretty
scary and intense. Made even scarier
when the object was under the blanket and was staring at them and The Doctor
was not sure if it was actually there or not or was a kid playing a trick on Rupert. Clara is really developing into a pretty good
character something they did not do much of in the last series.

We get to know Danny Pink
a little bit better in “Listen”. We find
out he was the boy Rupert that they visited in the past and that he still kept
a hold of the army guy into the future when we meet one of his future ancestors
Orson who is the last man in the universe.
Danny’s character gets some development as we learn more about him with
his date with Clara which does not go well.
This filler was fine as it did have some bearing on the story and is the
distraction that sets The Doctor and Clara down his time stream.

Now for the big revelation
which probably will cause some controversy with the fans. We find out that Clara started the whole
thing when the TARDIS went back to Gallifrey when The Doctor was a child. It appears The Doctor sleeps in a barn and
not with the other kids because he cries in his sleep and doesn’t want anyone
to know. Clara hides under the bed when
she hears someone coming and realizes they did not go back into Danny’s past
but The Doctor’s. It was chilling to see
that when the child Doctor get out of the bed and Clara grabs his leg and that
look of terror in her eyes when it dawns on her that it was her fault for the
nightmares. She also calmed him down by
talking to him and we get a glimpse that this is the same barn the War Doctor
went to use The Moment. It will be seen
that Clara had more to do with the development of The Doctor at a younger age
and that could be seen controversial with the fans especially the hardcore
Classic fans but really isn’t as it would appear as a dream to him. Well that
is my opinion anyway.

The thing is was there
ever a creature at all in the story or was this all in The Doctor’s head all
along? When Clara returns to the TARDIS and proclaims what if there was nothing
but The Doctor being afraid of the dark.
Well was it? Was it all a wild goose chase? Which kind of leaves you
thinking what did happen in this story and how could the thing on the bed in Rupert’s
room be explained if this was just an investigation into The Doctor’s
nightmare. Plus all that stuff in Orson’s
ship making the banging noises. Was there something outside or was it just The
Doctor’s imagination getting the best of him?
“Listen” does pose a lot of questions and it leaves you deciding what
happens. Lots of room for speculation
and I am sure social network will be discussing “Listen” for a while now and
that the arguments will be plenty.

“Listen” is a scary story
and that was a great thing with me. It
also raised a lot of questions and made my brain work overtime to come up with
a solution that is plausible. People are
going to complain that there was not a monster but sometimes that is ok as you
do not need a creature to scare you sometimes you just need basic things that
happen in everyday life. “Listen” gives
us more insight into The Doctor’s early life and even though people will not
like Clara’s involvement, it did work. At least for me it did. The only problem that I did have with “Listen”
is that Steven Moffat did not give us an ending that was not filled with
endless speculation. But hey he got what
he wanted. He has the fans talking about it like crazy.Grade B +

Follow Us On Twitter

Facebook Badge

Follow by Email

What is the Gallifreyan Gazette?

The Gallifreyan Gazette is the name of a fan produced newsletter that began publication in 1987 by the Doctor Who fan club, The Knights. The newsletter 'regenerated' in 2011 when this blog site went live.

There are many ways that you can enjoy The Gallifreyan Gazette. Beside coming back to our site and reading up on the latest news, information and articles you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook and through E-mail (See links below)

If you want to participate in our blog feel free to comment on our articles or e-mail us to ask questions.

Dwhoknight@aol.com - Ask any question about our club, its history and current schedule of events.

Kotwg@yahoo.com - Want to write for our blog or take part in our future podcasts or online events? Any other blog related questions feel free to ask